The American Welding Society (AWS) holds a number of conferences each year throughout the United States. Anyone can attend these conferences, but AWS members get a discounted admission rate as well as credit hours towards completing AWS certification programs. The conferences cover a very wide range of topics. Below are the dates and details for all of the 2011 AWS conferences. Some do not have registration rates listed yet, but will be updated as the information becomes available.
Conference on Welding in Shipbuilding
Date: May 10th and 11th
Location: Seattle, Washington
Welding is the most crucial part of the manufacturing process in the construction of ships and metal hull boats. At this conference you will learn about new and innovative welding developments in shipbuilding industry. This conference will also provide you with current information on new and emerging technologies that are currently being developed for application to shipbuilding.
Registration Rate
AWS members $550
Nonmembers $680
The Prevention of Weld Failures
Date: June 14th and 15th
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
This will be the first time that the American Welding Society holds a conference on this topic. Many different and important topics will be included in this conference.
The conference will start a keynote address delivered by John Stropki, the CEO of Lincoln Holdings. Stropki will speak about the arc welding industry and strategic growth in a global market.
Also during the conference John Siewert from Babcock & Wilcox Research Center will discuss a new filler metal designed to weld CSEF steel to austenitic stainless steel. Known as EPRI P87, this filler metal was developed by engineers from Babcock and Wilcox and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Gary Lewis of Superheat FGH will share the results which were obtained in the recent collaborative experimentation of AWS, ASME and EPRI. He will also discuss opportunities to utilize emerging technological advancements and progressive process control solutions to improve field construction results and sustainability.
Tim Tidwell of Arc-Heat LLC will explain how the process of induction heating works and where and when it can be used as a solution to heat treat problems. Test results from studies, including those involving EPRI, will also be discussed here.
Attendee Registration Rate
AWS members $550
Nonmembers $680
Corrosion-Resistant Alloys, the New Chrome-Moly Steels
Date: August 16th and 17th
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
The first day of this conference will be centered around the newer corrosion-resistant alloys and will cover such areas as the growing body of duplex stainless steels, the nickel-base alloys, and titanium.
Duplex grades are beginning to replace the austenitics stainlesses in some common instances, and there has been an introduction of less expensive duplex alloys, and there is a new titanium alloy which could very well replace the popular 6Al-4V grade. All of these topics and more will be on the program at this conference.
The second day will be devoted to the new chrome-moly steels, such as the 91, 92, and 911 grades.
Attendee Registration Rate
AWS members $550
Nonmembers $680
14th Annual Aluminum Welding Conference
Date: September 20th and 21st
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
A distinguished panel of aluminum-industry experts will discuss the current state of the art technology and practice in aluminum welding.
This annual Aluminum Welding Conference will also provide several opportunities for you to network informally with speakers and other conference participants, as well as check out an exhibit that will showcase products and services that are available to those in the aluminum welding industry.
Attendee Registration Rate
AWS members $550
Nonmembers $680
National Welding Education Conference
Date: November 14th
Location: Chicago at FABTECH
This conference is presented by the National Center for Welding Education and Training (Weld-Ed) and is designed to bring together educators in the field for professional development and networking opportunities. Weld-Ed¹s primary focus is on the preparation of welders, technicians, and engineers to be able to meet the needs of the welding industry and industries who utilize welders.
This conference will include presentations on a wide range of topics, such as welding industry workforce needs, recruitment tips and tools for educators, externship programs for educators, tips on partnering with other secondary and post-secondary schools, welding education trends, curriculum ideas, new technology applications, and presentations from welding educators who will share their best and most successful practices.
Conference Fee: To be determined
8th Conference on Weld Cracking
November 15, 2011
Chicago at FABTECH
The different types of cracking, their causes, and their solutions will be discussed. Discussion will take place regarding how to identify types of cracks and what to do about them.
Conference Fee: To be determined
Conference on Welding Power Sources
Date: November 16th
Location: Chicago at FABTECH
There has been a relatively large number of new developments dealing with power sources. Machines in the welding industry have greatly improved in their capabilities, including multi-process operation. The experts will be on hand to describe many of these innovations.
Conference Fee: To be determined
